Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tag, You're It!

Okay, so Courtney Pearson over at Writer by Day, Mommy Always tagged me and wants to know my answers to a few questions. In other words, she tagged me ... and now I'm tagging YOU!

Here's the questions:

1. Plotter or Panster?

Big time plotter... BUT a lot of my story comes from drafting spontaneously, I've just got my outline and characters all mapped out beforehand. And if there's world building, I plot a good 2 months before writing. But I get as much of a high from plotting as I do from pantsing, it just makes the revisions a heckuva lot easier when I've plotted ahead of time.

2. Who is your fave character and why?

Tough to choose only one. But a few are Hannibal Lecter, Scarlett O'Hara, Count Dracula, Edmond Dantes from Count of Monte Cristo, Hermione Granger, Matilda, Samwise Gamgee, Legolas, Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair ... just to name a few. Each one is multi-layered so they feel real in my mind.

3. Name 2 things within arms reach

coffee and cell phone

4. If you could go back and do anything over again, what would it be?

I'd go back to like age 8 on Christmas morning and just feel that joy again... just for a day ... but wrapped in love and family and no worries. And I think I got a really cool game that year... Merlin. Anyone remember those handheld electronics? And an 8-Ball ... I got one of those too!

5. Date with a celebrity, who would you pick?

This has changed over the years for sure... but at present, I'd pick something really geeky like George Lucas so I could convince him to a hook a sister up with some film connections. ;)

6. What is your fave song?

Sheesh, I can never give just one answer. I am widely eclectic. I love everything from New Age to Techno to Classical to Classic Rock to Jazz to Alternative. But just to throw an answer out, for now, I'll say Little Star by Madonna... not Lucky Star ... Little Star... It's a song she wrote for her daughter when she was little and it's a song I sing to my daughter all the time. My little girl loves it and sings it with me. So cute.

7. What genre do you write in?

I write for kids: YA, MG and within that age group, I write contemporary, fantasy, light sci-fi, suspense. I love all genres too!

I've gotten to do some pretty cool things all over the world. I've climbed the Great Wall of China, walked barefoot through the Taj Mahal, rode an elephant through the jungles of Thailand, scuba dived beautiful reefs in Hawaii and Mexico, sipped cappuccino on the Spanish Steps of Rome, taken a gondola ride through Venice, gazed on the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Michelangelo's David and Sistene Chapel, hiked a mountain ridge in Alaska, horseback riding in Costa Rica and Montana, okay okay... you get the idea. I've been blessed to do a lot so far.

10. Coolest place you've ever been?

Um, see above for a few on the list... lol

11. Favorite quote?

"Less is More." Mies Van der Rohe It just applies to almost everything in life.

Okay, so now it's YOUR turn! How would you answer these questions? Either do so in the comments, or post it on your own blog and let me know so I can check it out!

37 comments:

Yes, that "less is more" quote is a great one! I was saying the same thing just a while ago about using swear words in writing, and my aunt asked me to repeat what I'd said to my uncle regarding his general vocabulary.

2. So many characters, so little time! Aragorn of the Lord of the Rings, obviously, Sean Dillon and Hannah Bernstein from the Jack Higgins novels, Gabriel Allon from the Daniel Silva novels, Viola and Olivia from Twelfth Night...

3. Back pack and chocolate.

4. Too long a story to go into, but the short version involves getting myself out of a bad situation I put myself into much sooner then I have.

5. Norah Jones. Or Sarah McLachlan. Or both.

6. So many songs! I'd have to say All I Want Is You by U2, or Sarah McLachlan's Answer. Nikki Yanofsky also does a great version of At Last, and I've always liked Duke Ellington's Take The A Train. Then there's a fiddler named Sierra Noble who plays a haunting version of the Soldier's Lament...

7. Spy thrillers on the one hand, and romance in a collaboration with my writing partner.

8. Rock climbing, out in the great outdoors. And photography. And motorbiking.

9. Travelling to unlikely places, getting out on just the right cliff face and enjoying the day with nothing but empty space beneath me.

Count of Monte Cristo, YES! I love that movie. (Haven't read the book.) How neat that you've climbed the Wall of China and seen the Taj Mahal! and I'd LOVE to see the David/Sistine Chapel. I'd ditto you in the craft/art for doing things other than writing. I love to watch dance too (though not a dancer myself, except when warming up for my exercises!).

Hi, PK. It's been too long. I hope you and yours are well.When I see a post that reads: Tag, you're it. I usually flee. It usually means work for me. However, I'm glad I didn't. It might be fun answering those questions. Perhaps that will be my post in a week...My, you have been blessed to visit some really cool places! Thanks for sharing.

I'm pretty sure these are the questions I was tagged with last week. Methinks that's next Monday's post!

But hey! that's exactly the plotting/pantsing approach I'm taking with WIP. I'm kind of digging it, too, and although I'm sort of charting out the direction, I'm looking forward to seeing how the story grows and changes.